SUN, SAND & SURF

Whether you like to surf, climb or hit the links, Charleston’s glo­ri­ous spring weather pro­vides the per­fect back­drop for a host of out­door ac­tiv­i­ties. Wan­der through the ru­ins of a for­mer rice plan­ta­tion, com­mune with wild dol­phins or even catch your own din­ner. No mat­ter your age, stamina or en­thu­si­asm level, there’s cer­tain to be an al­fresco ad­ven­ture with your name on it.

CAW CAW IN­TER­PRE­TIVE CEN­TER

A hike through six miles of raised trails winds through an oth­er­worldly cy­press swamp. Once a 5,500-acre rice plan­ta­tion dat­ing from the late 1700s, the land has now re­verted back to na­ture. Check out the trail­side signs high­light­ing the area’s nat­u­ral and cul­tural his­to­ries, but don’t let the tran­quil­ity fool you: Caw Caw is home to ot­ters, deer and bald ea­gles, as well as al­li­ga­tors and a wide va­ri­ety of water­fowl. 5200 Sa­van­nah High­way, Ravenel, 843.762.8015

JAMES IS­LAND COUNTY PARK

The climb­ing wall at James Is­land County Park is one of the tallest out­door climb­ing fa­cil­i­ties in the Low­coun­try. The 50-foot struc­ture of­fers more than 4,500 square feet of climb­ing space, in­clud­ing two lead climb­ing walls and 14 top ropes. The ad­ja­cent 10-foot boul­der­ing wall pro­vides an ad­di­tional 1,000 square feet of space per­fect for be­gin­ners. The fa­cil­ity is ap­pro­pri­ate for all skill lev­els. 871 River­land Drive, Charleston, 843.762.9511

SUL­LI­VAN’S IS­LAND

At the mouth of the Charleston Har­bor, this is­land pro­vides am­ple beach­comb­ing op­por­tu­ni­ties. Once the set­ting of both an Edgar Al­lan Poe novel and a Rev­o­lu­tion­ary War bat­tle, to­day the 3.4 square mile is­land is the spot to search for shells, starfish and shark teeth. And not just any sharks: These can in­clude Juras­sic mega­lodon tooth fos­sils rang­ing from three to seven inches in size.

FOLLY BEACH

Con­sid­ered the surf­ing mecca of South Carolina, Folly Beach lies just 11 miles south of Charleston. Get out there as early as pos­si­ble, as winds and crowds tend to pick up in the af­ter­noon. Ar­guably the best—and cer­tainly the most pop­u­lar—spot to surf is the Washout, a long stretch of break with pow­er­ful swells. Best suited to more ad­vanced surfers or out- of-the-way ob­ser­va­tion, but new­bies can learn the ropes with a class from Carolina Salt Surf Lessons, 843.452.4833

SHEM CREEK

There are ways to get out on the wa­ter with­out get­ting wet. Head to Mount Pleas­ant’s Shem Creek, an ex­cel­lent start­ing point for ex­plo­ration via ca­noe, kayak or standup pad­dle­board. Na­ture Ad­ven­ture Out­fit­ters leads a va­ri­ety of tours, as well as rents equip­ment for self- guided ex­plo­ration. Head west from their boat ramp to­ward the fish­ing boats and take in the bus­tle of Charleston Har­bor, or pad­dle east and ex­plore the lazy tidal wa­ters of Shem Creek. The grassy wet­lands are home to play­ful dol­phins and even the oc­ca­sional manatee. Shrimp Boat Lane, Mount Pleas­ant. 843.568.3222

THE PENINSULA

There may be no bet­ter way to take in Charleston’s seem­ingly ef­fort­less beauty than by bike. Start your ex­pe­di­tion at the Vis­i­tors’ Cen­ter, then pedal a mile down bustling King Street as you take in trendy bou­tiques and restau­rants. From here, head north to Huger Street while en route to the his­toric cam­pus of the mil­i­tary Citadel Col­lege. Then nav­i­gate to East Bay and the nearby on-ramp for the Ravenel Bridge, the long­est ca­blestay struc­ture in the coun­try. Get your rental on King Street at Af­ford­abike.

KIAWAH IS­LAND GOLF RE­SORT

Of­fer­ing some of the finest golf­ing on the East Coast, Kiawah Is­land Golf Re­sort fea­tures mul­ti­ple golf cour­ses in­clud­ing Tur­tle Point, Oak Point and Cougar Point, as well as the world-renowned, Pete Dye-de­signed Ocean Course that spans more than 2.5 miles of coast. It will play host to the 2021 PGA Cham­pi­onship. 1 Sanc­tu­ary Beach Drive, Kiawah Is­land, 843.768.2121